Communication between CIRAS and TfL in 2013 and 2014

Keith Prince: Further to your failure to respond to Question 2020/1103, in a response to FOI-3797-1920, TfL confirmed

"We have done an initial search for all emails held by TfL sent/received by Jill Collis, who was the Health, Safety, & Environment Director for the majority of the requested time period, that includes the words ‘CIRAS’ and ‘tram’. This has returned almost 600 hits. A further search of all emails that contain the words “Confidential Incident Reporting and Analysis System” and “tram” produced 111 hits.”

Please provide me copies of those emails containing the 111 “hits” containing the words "Confidential Incident Reporting and Analysis System” and “tram”.

The Mayor: This search is underway and Transport for London have committed to responding to you by by 9 November.

Number 10 Bus Route

Tony Devenish: Will you reintroduce the number 10 bus route to make it easier to travel by bus from Knightsbridge to the West End?

The Mayor: Transport for London (TfL) changed routes 10 and 23 in response to the commitment to reducing buses on Oxford Street, which was the City of Westminster’s aspiration. Route 10 was withdrawn and route 23 was cut back to Marble Arch and extended to Hammersmith, along the route formerly taken by the route 10 bus.
Passengers in Knightsbridge can still get route 22 to Oxford Circus or use route 23 to interchange onto route 390 to get to all the areas of the West End previously served by route 10. Routes 9, 14, 19 and 22 combined have an off-peak frequency of over 30 buses per hour between Knightsbridge and Piccadilly Circus (West End) plus there are up to 24 trains per hour on the Piccadilly line.
However, I have asked TfL to keep this suggestion in mind the next time it comes to review route 23.

St John's Wood Escalators

Tony Devenish: Tube passengers at St John’s Wood are complaining about grease on their hands and clothes after using the escalators. Are TfL aware of this problem and is there anything more you can do to deal with it?

The Mayor: Transport for London (TfL) is aware of this issue and is working to address it as soon as possible. I have asked TfL officers to keep your office updated on progress.

Stanmore Station Maintenance

Navin Shah: My constituent has raised longstanding maintenance issues outside Stanmore Station, despite numerous requests these have still not been fixed. The light columns outside the station are still faulty, and despite TfL stating they would endeavour to have this resolved by the end of June, this has not happened. Can this be looked into?

The Mayor: Transport for London is aware of this issue and is working to ensure the problem is resolved as soon as possible. I have asked that you are kept updated.

Winter Preparations (1)

Navin Shah: What action are you taking to ensure that London is ready and prepared for the difficult winter ahead due to the virus?

The Mayor: London has re-established its Strategic Coordinating Group which is responsible for determining the strategic aim, objectives and priorities for the response to system wide risks to London. The SCG has built into its response strategy the need to manage the impacts due to the end of the EU Transition period and also other Winter Pressures. Following wave 1 of the Covid-19 Pandemic the SCG and its respective Sub-groups conducted a lessons’ review to ensure that learning from the first half of 2020 can be implemented to improve the response to this coming winter.
I Chair the London Transition Board with the Minister for Housing and Communities to further London’s preparedness for future waves of the pandemic and I Chair the London Recovery Board to ensure that London is at the forefront of recovery from this virus and can build back stronger.

Discussions with Council leaders regarding lockdown measures in London

Onkar Sahota: Can the Mayor please outline the nature of his recent meetings with Council Leaders regarding lockdown measures in London, and explain the extent to which these discussions are fed into Government decision making around regional restrictions.

The Mayor: As part of the agreed escalation process for any new restrictions the Mayor and London Councils’ Chair and Group Leaders are jointly briefed on the recommendations proposed by London’s Health and SCG Officials on a twice weekly basis.
London Leaders’ view on proposing any new measures is then fed directly by London’s Health Officials into National Bronze, Silver and Gold meetings with the Chief Medical Officer for agreement. If measures are agreed at National Gold the Secretary of State will meet with the Mayor and London Councils’ Chair and Group Leaders to discuss before an announcement is made by Government.

Funding for the London Transition Board

Onkar Sahota: How is the London Transition Board funded (i.e. do staff seconded from each organisation continue to be paid from their original organisation; which organisation is responsible for producing minutes of meetings and arranging meetings and etc)?

The Mayor: The London Transition Board was jointly established between the Ministry for Housing, Communities and Local Government and the Greater London Authority. The responsibility for the administration and support costs of the Board has been provided by MHCLG and the GLA.

Funding for the Strategic Coordination Group

Onkar Sahota: Who was responsible for the funding of the Strategic Coordination Group (i.e. did staff seconded from each organisation continue to be paid from their original organisation or was a lead agency in charge of funding staff who worked exclusively with the SCG)?

The Mayor: A Strategic Coordination Group has no legal or organisational basis and therefore any costs incurred need to be covered by the organisations contributing. At present the costs are covered by the organisations seconding staff. Central Government has provided some funding to cover these costs but this has not fully covered the costs incurred to date.